Today Mamas of Color Rising sent the following letter to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, thanking them for their decision to make a rules change that adds Licensed Midwives as health care providers under Texas Medicaid. For more than a year we partnered with Texans For Midwifery to collect petition signatures asking HHSC to make the change.

Once the new rules goes into effect, pregnant women are receive health insurance through Texas Medicaid will be able to choose a Licensed Midwife for their prenatal and labor/delivery care. Mamas of Color Rising believes that all women should have equal access to the full spectrum of choices about the care they receive when they are pregnant, when delivering, and postnatally. That Licensed Midwives will now be able to serve pregnant women receiving Medicaid benefits is an important victory toward full and equal access.